The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has given updates on the state of the Port Harcourt Refinery, saying that “substation 1” of the refinery has now been activated, and set to energise 14 others.
By this update from NNPCL, the Port Harcourt refinery is now ready to commence of operations.
The company also disclosed on Tuesday that 15 substations will be needed to power its operations, explaining further that its team has laid 64 kilometres of electrical cables to rev the substations, with 65 per cent of the cables sourced locally.
According to NNPCL, the substation 1 of the refinery which has now been energised will power all other 14 substations, as it would also serve as the primary power hub for both the old and new refineries.
Meanwhile, the refinery has been primed to receive electricity from gas turbine generators before the end of this month as well as to supply power to various areas within the refinery complex.
According to NNPCL, no fewer than 100 staff members worked on installing the switchgear panels, comprising high and low-voltage panels and motor control centre panels, capable of handling 11,000 volts of electricity.
With the recent development, stakeholders in the downstream petroleum sub-sector comprising those in the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria (NOGASA) and the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) have said that the prevailing crisis in the energy sector would soon end with the envisaged return of operations at the Port Harcourt Refinery, Rivers State in January.